Book review: Shelley Marshall, Living Wage: Regulatory Solutions to Informal and Precarious Work in Global Supply Chains

2020 ◽  
pp. 103530462098200
Author(s):  
John E King
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Living Wage ◽  
Precarious Work

scholarly journals Precariousness, Gender, Resistance and Consent in the Face of Global Production Network’s ‘Reforms’ of Pakistan’s Garment Manufacturing Industry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Ayaz ◽  
MJ Ashraf ◽  
Trevor Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
The Face ◽  
Unanticipated Consequences ◽  
Garment Manufacturing

© The Author(s) 2019. This case study of the restructuring of Pakistan’s garment manufacturing industry explores how attempts to increase capital’s control over the labour process intersect with local patriarchal structures and trigger workers’ reflexivity and agency causing unanticipated consequences. Using Archer’s notion of agency, the article examines the theoretical space where capitalism meets patriarchy, and both are reproduced. The focus on reflexivity, anchored between objective contexts and agents’ personal concerns, helps theorize capital–labour–gender relations in global supply chains and explains workers’ impactful resistance to protect a supposedly precarious work regime. Our findings challenge the notion that globalization reduces workers’ agency and their potential for impactful resistance.

scholarly journals Precariousness, Gender, Resistance and Consent in the Face of Global Production Network’s ‘Reforms’ of Pakistan’s Garment Manufacturing Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 895-912
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ayaz ◽  
Muhammad Junaid Ashraf ◽  
Trevor Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Precarious Work ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
The Face ◽  
Unanticipated Consequences ◽  
Garment Manufacturing

This case study of the restructuring of Pakistan’s garment manufacturing industry explores how attempts to increase capital’s control over the labour process intersect with local patriarchal structures and trigger workers’ reflexivity and agency causing unanticipated consequences. Using Archer’s notion of agency, the article examines the theoretical space where capitalism meets patriarchy, and both are reproduced. The focus on reflexivity, anchored between objective contexts and agents’ personal concerns, helps theorize capital–labour–gender relations in global supply chains and explains workers’ impactful resistance to protect a supposedly precarious work regime. Our findings challenge the notion that globalization reduces workers’ agency and their potential for impactful resistance.

Respect for Workers in Global Supply Chains: Advancing the Debate Over Sweatshops

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis G. Arnold ◽  
Norman E. Bowie
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Living Wage ◽  
Respect For Persons ◽  
Labor Laws ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Inaccurate Reading

ABSTRACT:In “Sweatshops and Respect for Persons” we argued on Kantian grounds that managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have the following duties: to adhere to local labor laws, to refrain from coercion, to meet minimum health and safety standards, and to pay workers a living wage. In their commentary on our paper Sollars and Englander challenge some of our conclusions. We argue here that several of their criticisms are based on an inaccurate reading of our paper, and that none of the remaining criticisms successfully challenge our main arguments. By highlighting the shortcomings of their arguments we hope to advance discussion of the ethical treatment of workers in global supply chains.

Wages in Global Supply Chains

2021 ◽  
pp. 112-147
Author(s):  
Jinsun Bae
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Living Wage ◽  
Hourly Wage ◽  
Private Regulation ◽  
Labor Market Conditions ◽  
Wage Rates

This chapter assesses progress on wages in global supply chains, using AUDCO data. The data include hourly wage rates, the gap between actual wages and minimum wages, the gap between actual wages and take-home pay, and finally the gap between these paid wages and a number of different living wage estimates drawn from 14,315 reliable audits done during the period 2011–2017 in ten countries and seven industries. These data show that wages in all countries have increased and are above the minimum wage (with a few exceptions in a small number of audits). Of course, it is difficult to credit private regulation programs with these increases, given the numerous other influences on wage levels — not the least being local labor market conditions as well as prices paid to suppliers for their product. But the fact that wages paid are above the minimum in most countries is at least consistent with code of conduct commitments. The evidence also shows that wages have been increasing every year — some codes require annual year-on-year increases. Moreover, it demonstrates that wage levels are nowhere near the living wage required by many codes of conduct. The gaps are large, and wages would need to increase considerably to reach the living wage commitments made by global firms in different countries and industries.

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